---
title: Collaborations
description: Learn how to request and manage collaborator access to merchant stores.
source_url:
  html: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores/collaborations'
  md: 'https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores/collaborations.md'
---

# Collaborations

Collaborations are access relationships with merchant-owned stores. When you have collaborator access to a store, it appears in the Dev Dashboard's **Stores** list as a **Collaboration**. Unlike dev stores and client transfer stores, you don't own a collaboration store; the merchant does. You're working inside their live store.

Collaborator access reaches only the parts of a store the merchant grants, and it doesn't count toward the store's [staff limit](https://help.shopify.com/manual/your-account/users/users-plan-requirements). To explain that to a merchant, send them the Help Center page on [collaborator accounts](https://help.shopify.com/manual/your-account/users/security/collaborator-accounts).

Use collaborations when an existing merchant needs support, customization, or app development on their store.

***

## Requirements

Before you begin, make sure you have:

* A Shopify Partner account.
* The [required permissions](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/dev-dashboard/user-permissions) to manage collaborations in your organization.
* A verified identity, if Shopify requires one of your organization. When it's required, the request page says so, and you can't send the request until you verify. Refer to [Verifying your identity](https://help.shopify.com/en/partners/manage-account/verifying-your-identity).

***

## Request collaborator access

**Info:**

In the legacy Partner Dashboard, this flow was called **Send collaborator request**. In the Dev Dashboard it's **Request store access**.

To request access to a merchant's store:

1. Log in to the [Dev Dashboard](https://dev.shopify.com/dashboard/).
2. Select **Stores** from the left sidebar.
3. Select **Request store access**.
4. Enter the store's permanent `myshopify.com` URL. Custom or secondary domains aren't supported.
5. Enter the merchant's 4-digit collaborator request code. The merchant can find this in their Shopify admin under **Settings** > **Users** > **Security**. If they've never shared it before, they may need to locate and share it with you first.
6. Select the permissions you need.
7. Select **Send request**.

The merchant receives a request to grant your organization collaborator access. Once they approve it, the store appears in your **Stores** list with the status **Active**.

### Request access from an app's Installs page

When a merchant reports a problem with your app, you can request access to their store without leaving the app you're debugging.

1. Open the app in the [Dev Dashboard](https://dev.shopify.com/dashboard/) and go to its **Installs** page.
2. Find the merchant's store and open its **Store actions** menu.
3. Select **Request store access**. The request form opens with the store's URL already filled in.
4. Select the permissions you need, and then select **Send request**.

The menu only offers **Request store access** for a store you can't already reach. For a store your organization already has access to, it offers **Log in** instead.

**Info:**

If your organization has an app installed on the merchant's store, you can request collaborator access without a collaborator request code.

### Limits on requesting access

The following limits apply when you send a request:

* A store can have a maximum of two pending collaborator requests at a time, counting requests from every organization. If a store is already at that limit, then your request fails until one of those requests is resolved.
* Your organization can have a maximum of 10 pending requests at a time, counting only requests that needed no collaborator request code. The limit doesn't apply when you enter a code, or when the store already has one of your organization's apps installed.
* Your organization must be at least 30 days old to send a request, unless the store requires a collaborator request code or already has one of your organization's apps installed.
* If a staff member on the store uses your organization's partner business email, then your request fails. Ask the store owner to remove that account.

***

## Collaboration statuses

You can track the status of your collaborations in the **Status** column of the [Stores list](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores#store-statuses), filtering by **Type is Collaboration** to see only these:

| Status | Meaning |
| - | - |
| **Active** | Collaborator access is active and within the agreed access period. |
| **Request sent** | Your access request has been sent and is waiting for the merchant to approve. A renewal request on an expired collaboration shows this status too. |
| **Access expired** | Your collaborator access has expired. You no longer have access to the store. |
| **—** | The merchant declined your access request. No actions are available on the row, and requesting access again fails with an error saying the request was declined. |

Collaborator access expires when nobody from your organization logs into the store for 90 days. Logging in at least once in that window keeps it active.

If the merchant declined your request by mistake, then you can't clear the request yourself. Refer to the Help Center's [collaborator FAQs](https://help.shopify.com/manual/your-account/users/security/collaborator-accounts) for how a merchant can recover a rejected request.

The **Plan** column is only populated for **Active** collaborations. A merchant's plan is hidden while a collaboration isn't active, so rows with any other status show a dash there as well.

***

## Cancel a pending request

While a request is waiting for the merchant to approve it, you can withdraw it.

1. In the [Stores list](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores#store-statuses), filter by **Type is Collaboration** and find the store with **Request sent** status.
2. Select the three-dot menu (**⋯**) on the store's row.
3. Select **Cancel request**, and then confirm in the **Cancel collaboration request** dialog.

If the menu offers **Re-request access** instead of **Cancel request**, that row is an expired collaboration that's already been re-requested, not a new request. Refer to [Renew expired access](#renew-expired-access).

***

## Renew expired access

If your collaborator access has expired, you can send the merchant a new request directly from the Dev Dashboard.

1. In the [Stores list](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores#store-statuses), filter by **Type is Collaboration** and find the store with **Access expired** status.
2. Select the three-dot menu (**⋯**) on the store's row.
3. Select **Re-request access**.

The merchant receives a new request to approve. Once they approve it, your access is restored and the status updates accordingly.

***

## Remove collaborator access

If you no longer need to work on a merchant's store, you can end the collaboration. This removes your whole organization's access to the store, not only your own, and it's available whether the collaboration is **Active** or **Access expired**.

1. In the [Stores list](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores#store-statuses), filter by **Type is Collaboration** and find the store.
2. Select the three-dot menu (**⋯**) on the store's row.
3. Select **Remove access**, and then confirm in the **Remove collaborator access** dialog.

**Info:**

Removing access ends the collaboration, so the store no longer appears in your **Stores** list.

To work on the store again afterward, [request access](#request-collaborator-access) the same way you would for a store you've never worked on.

***

## Limitations

As a collaborator, your access is granted and controlled by the merchant:

* The merchant sets the scope of your permissions. You can only access the parts of the store they've granted you access to.
* You can't transfer a collaboration store. If the merchant wants to hand off store ownership, that's a separate process they initiate.

***

## Next steps

* [Create a client transfer store](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/stores/client-transfer-stores) to build a store and hand it off to a client.
* [Configure user permissions](https://shopify.dev/docs/apps/build/dev-dashboard/user-permissions) to manage who can request collaborator access in your organization.

***